Photo via Bigstock
The IPO market has been relatively weak for tech companies. Photo via Bigstock

A lot of “unicorns” have been spotted in recent months in the tech industry, but not many IPOs.

Despite strong public offerings this week from mobile payments company Square and Tinder parent Match Group, the IPO market has been relatively anemic, especially for tech companies.

According to IPO tracker Renaissance Capital, just 167 companies have conducted IPOs in the U.S. so far this year, a 35 percent drop over the same period last year. And those that do make it into the public waters are facing challenges, with Renaissance Capital noting that the average IPO is down 4.8 percent from its offering price.

IPO activity in the U.S. Source: Renaissance Capital
IPO activity in the U.S. Source: Renaissance Capital

The lack of IPOs is something we’ve been watching closely here at GeekWire, especially as it relates to the GeekWire 200, our ranking of the top 200 privately-held technology companies in the Pacific Northwest.

After all, once a privately-held company makes the IPO leap or is acquired, we boot them from the GeekWire 200.

That hasn’t happened in a while.

And that means that would-be IPO candidates — such as DocuSign, Redfin and Avalara — have firmly stayed atop the GeekWire 200 ranking for much of the year, including for the month of November. In fact, the last big move at the top of the GeekWire 200 occurred 12 months ago when Big Fish — the Seattle-based game maker and t the time number one — was acquired by Kentucky Derby race owner Churchill Downs.

With no tech IPOs to speak of this year in the Pacific Northwest, one has to wonder whether things will ever open up. In fact, no tech companies in the region have publicly filed for IPOs so far this year, meaning the pipeline of potential candidates is relatively dry.

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The GeekWire 200, presented by EY. Click on image for full list.

Some companies are simply shunning the public markets — taking cues from tech companies like Etsy and Box which have been beaten up after their IPOs.

At the GeekWire Summit earlier this year, DocuSign co-founder Tom Gonser was asked about an IPO. And while Gonser did not rule out the possibility — noting that the public markets are a “fantastic place to raise money” — he said they’ve chosen to stay private in order to focus on growth.

“If you look at the last three or four years, there’s been lots of time to go public, but for us, the kind of things we are investing in, like foreign markets and esoteric technology, it is much easier to do that private,” Gonser said. “We want to get as much as the heavy lifting out of the way as possible before going public. I think it’s something that makes a lot of sense, but when? I can’t answer that.”

The GeekWire 200 —presented by our partners at EY — is derived from our broader list of more than 900 Pacific Northwest tech startups. The list is designed to provide a better understanding of the startup landscape in the Northwest.

To make sure your startup is eligible for inclusion in the GeekWire 200, first make sure it’s included in the broader Startup List. If so, there’s no need to submit it separately for the GeekWire 200. If your Pacific Northwest startup isn’t among the companies on that larger list, you can submit it for inclusion here, and our algorithm will crunch the numbers to see if your company makes next month’s GeekWire 200. (Please, no service providers, marketing agencies, etc.)

Thanks to everyone for checking out this month’s ranking. And, just a reminder, if you value resources like these, be sure to check out our list and map of out-of-town tech companies with Seattle engineering outposts as well as our list of startup incubators, co-working spaces and accelerators in the region.

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